Never Alone
by Mauryn
Summary: A late night rendezvous ends in terror, embarrassment, and a supernatural mystery.


It was an old habit. One that she had carried over from her pre-vampire apocalypse life as a divorced mother. At least once a night, often more, Angel would suddenly wake up and stare past an ever-present Sam to look in on Mohamad. It was something she had done with her own son, and the transfer to Mohamad felt very natural to her.

Sitting up slowly, Angel pulled the thin blanket off of herself, stepped carefully over the sleeping Sam, and leaned over to tenderly place it over Mohamad's sleeping form. But as she raised her eyes from the young man's face, she found herself gazing into Sam's eyes. His open eyes and alert expression told her one thing. He had not been sleeping at all. He, too, had also been awake and checking in on Mohamad.

And, probably, checking in on her, too, Angel thought with a little warm glow of affection.

Glancing first at Mohamad then back to sam, the two shared a knowing smile. Angel could not help but give a gentle chuckle, imagining the endless and merciless teasing Mohamad would give them both if he ever caught them fussing over him like this in the middle of the night.

But now she was wide awake.

And, given how he was looking at her, so apparently, was Sam.

They gazed at one another for a long moment. Angel opened her mouth several times but closed it again. It was not that she was uncertain if he could lip-read her in this limited light, though that was as good an excuse as any. But Sam seemed to sense her struggling for words, and took the initiative this time. He slowly raised his hands, thought better of it given Angel's limited sign knowledge, and took out a small notebook and stub of a pencil instead. He quickly scribbled something and handed the pencil and piece of paper to her.

Angel read what he wrote:

_Morning, my Angel Eyes. We've tucked our boy in. But are you sleepy?_

She smiled fondly at him, shook her head, and wrote a firm:

_Not one bit. Why?_

Then she passed the page back to him.

She heard the pencil scratching before he passed her the paper again. Sam pressed the page into her hand, and she read,

_I don't want to wake up everyone else. Will you come with me?_

Angel only hesitated for a second, then she wrote back,

_Maybe we should just stay together? Do you really think we should leave him alone? I mean, Cindy's killer might … you know … whoever it is might come for Mohamad while we're gone?_

Sam took the page from her and wrote back firmly:

_Mohamad will be safe. And I figured you'd look after me, right? We won't be gone long._

Angel gave a soft snort then looked worriedly around her, pressing her lips together to stifle her laugh. The last person who needed her looking after him was Sam. And she really wanted to believe him, but she glanced down with a worried frown at Mohamad. If something happened to him while she and Sam were away, Angel would never forgive herself.

This time as he passed her the page, she held on tightly to Sam's hand for a moment before giving him a soft smile. Pulling back, she wrote:

_Okay. Lead on, Silent Sam __😊._

They slowly stood up and she passed him back his paper and pencil. He glanced at the page then grinned at her, obviously finding her smily face drawing cute. Then, holding hands, they crept out of the sleeping quarters and hoped Mohamad or no one else would wake up and come searching for them.

* * *

Once they were gone, Mohamad slowly opened one eye and let out a great yawn.

"Jesus, Angel and/or Sam," he muttered under his breath. "Just as long as they don't tuck me in with a teddybear, guess I can live with it."

Then, he grinned to himself. _Well, it's about damn time they get on with it,_ he thought before turning over and wrapping Angel's blanket tightly around himself and pondered going back to sleep. He was not at all concerned. Angel and sam could take care of themselves and would take care of each other. He knew that they were safe as long as they stayed together. And he knew that being together was what at least one, probably both, of them had in mind. There was not a vamp alive, or undead, that could withstand both Sam's bat and Angel's crowbar.

Stretching a little, taking full advantage of the temporary space he had by Angel and Sam's leaving, Mohamad settled back down, nestled his cheek against Angel's blanket which still smelled like that cheap shampoo she'd found to wash her hair in, and drifted back to sleep. He only felt a little envious of Sam.

* * *

Angel had no idea where Sam was leading her. And, more than once, she stopped them both dead in their tracks while she listened intently to footsteps she imagined creeping stealthily up behind them. Was this damn hospital possibly haunted? After all, many must have died here in the early days before Axel's fortifications were complete, before axel even arrived.

Was it perhaps poor Cindy's ghost, lost and frightened, following behind to protect them from her killer?

Sam, seeming concerned, a little amused and somewhat exasperated by her growing paranoia, eventually slipped one arm firmly around her waist and moved them both along. Angel protested, but not very much. She was always very moved by sam's thoughtful protectiveness. And right now, she almost envied his near-total deafness. Apparently, he was not even imagining anyone approaching from behind like she was, but then again, outweighing her by a ton and overtopping her by almost one foot, he had way less to worry about than her, didn't he?

Angel forced all these confusing impressions out of her mind as Sam stopped and slowly opened a door and drew her inside. When he closed and locked the door behind them, she heaved a sigh and visibly relaxed, leaning with much relief against sam's arm.

"Feel better now?" Sam murmured.

"Yes, and you don't have to gloat so damn much," Angel answered back, trying to sound and look annoyed, and not just creeped out. "I swear I heard someone behind us."

"Mohamad?" Sam asked.

Angel shook her head.

"No, not Mohamad. It didn't sound like him, and I've never got the creeps with him following me."

"You were scared of both of us," Sam disagreed. "When you first found us."

She opened her mouth to deny it, but closed it again, knowing he was right. It had been all she could do to allow herself to sleep within a few feet of the older and younger man when they'd first met, a situation made more difficult by them both wanting to keep her protectively between them.

"Not gonna let me live that one down, either of you," Angel accused. But she was smiling. "And, you know, if you'd just told me who you were right off the bat, Sam, that would have helped a lot," she complained.

"That's what Mohamad said, too," Sam grinned.

"Well, at least it isn't just me you ignore," Angel replied. "Our Mohamad is wise beyond his tender years. But, you didn't bring me here to talk about Mohamad, did you?"

Sam hesitated, even seeming to draw back from her a bit, and she paused, feeling a brief and acute embarrassing dread steal over her. What if she had totally misread his intentions, and he really had indeed brought her there to talk of something to do with the young man, and not because he wanted to be alone with her for a while?

_Oh, you stupid woman!_ Angel admonished herself. _Oh, man! Now you've done it! You listen to Mohamad too much and got your hopes up. Did you really think that Sam wanted you?_

"So, what was this room, some kind of lounge?" Angel said

Angel did not care one bit what the room might have been used for in the past. All she wanted now was to find a gracious way out of the embarrassing mess she had gotten herself in to with Sam.

Mohamad, you and I are gonna have a long long talk and very soon, young man, angel silently promised.

Sam only shrugged.

angel started to move further in to the room to give herself and Sam some space. But to her surprise, the tall man moved with her. Before she had taken more than three steps away, she felt Sam's hand on her shoulder. And when she turned to look up at him, their eyes locked, and her breath caught in her throat.

Oh, maybe I wasn't wrong after all, she thought as Sam slowly lifted a hand from her shoulder and drew the back of it down her cheek.

"My Angel," he breathed her name as he bent towards her.

Turning fully to face him, Angel reached up, cupped his bearded cheeks between her hands, then placed both arms loosely around his neck.

"My sam," she mouthed his name.

* * *

It was hard, leaving their little makeshift temporary hideaway. Especially not knowing when they might be able to steal more moments like this again. Given the current situation, they may not even live long enough to have this time together again.

Still, Angel would have happily stayed entangled with sam on that old couch all day. But they both knew that if the others were not already up and about, they would be soon. And it would not be fair to expect Mohamad to run interference for them, especially with Axel. For someone who initially did not want any of them barging in on what he still considered to be his prime mission, axel had now taken an almost overprotective attitude about the group. It was touching and infuriating at the same time.

They both felt it as they approached the locked door. It was a sudden cold chill sweeping over them, and it caused them both to shiver violently.

Sam slipped his arm tighter around Angel's waste.

"Maybe axel's got the air conditioning working?" Angel began.

But that was as far as she got before the cold split in two, and she was torn from Sam's side. Angel shrieked as her feet left the floor and she was pressed hard against the wall next to the door. Sam, MEANWHILE, was being dragged AWAY FROM HER in the opposite direction.

"Leave him alone!" Angel screamed as she tried to fight past whatever was holding her back. "Leave us alone!"

Sam, too, was putting up a good fight, but they each had nothing to physically fight against.

"Leave us alone!" Angel yelled, struggling against whatever restrained her. She quickly learned that, as long as she did not try and go towards sam, it was not restraining her completely. She was able to slide sideways to the door, but of course, though the handle turned, the door would not budge.

"Dammit!" Angel growled, yanking and pulling uselessly on the door. It did not budge.

And whatever had ripped Sam away from her was apparently tired of just giving him a beating. It was now choking him.

She was never so relieved to hear distant cries of alarm and footsteps running down the hall.

"Angel, Sam!" Mohamad yelled. "What the hell are you guys doing in there? You're waking up the whole neighborhood."

"Mohamad, help us! Sam's choking! It's killing him!" Angel cried.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she heard Mohamad and many others exclaim just outside the door.

"Unlock the door," Doc yelled.

"I did unlock it, dammit, but it still won't open," Angel shot back.

Mohamad, John, Axel, and Flesh were all trying to break down the door, but they weren't getting anywhere even with their combined efforts.

"Oh, get out of the way," Angel heard Vanessa's voice, then the sound of a few bodies being forced away from the door.

"Angel! Can you get away from the door! Move as far back as you can. I don't want to hurt you!" Vanessa called.

'I'll try, but forget me, Vanessa, it's killing him! It won't let me near him! Please! Just open the damn door!" Angel sobbed.

Angel managed to slide sideways just in time. Vanessa gave one loud scream, like a war cry, and the door, with Vanessa and all the others came flying in to the room.

"Holy shit!" Mohamad cried.

Nicole and Vanessa and Doc all converged on Angel, while the men went to try and help Sam. The cold spot around Angel disappeared, but it took all the men fighting there way through to reach an almost unconscious Sam, then another minute for them to wrestle him free, and his cold spot also vanished without a trace.

"Shit! Look at his neck," Flesh groaned in sympathy.

"Doc, if Angel's okay we need you over here," Mohamad yelled.

Angel and Doc both rushed over to Sam's side. Angel gave another sob when she saw the deep bruises around Sam's neck, but at least he was still breathing even though it was painful for him.

"Nicole, run and get my first aid bag, quick," Doc called over her shoulder to a trembling and wid-eyed Nicole. But when Doc tried to touch sam's neck, he jerked away from her.

"Sam, let me help—"she began, but he raised one fist towards her even as he drew back from her again.

"Woah, easy Sam," Mohamad exclaimed as Angel leaned in and took Sam's badly bruise face in her hands.

"Sam, look at me!" she shouted in to his face. "Look at me, damn you! It's Angel … Mohamad's here too. We're all here, and you're gonna be okay, but Doc needs to take a look at your neck. You know she's safe now, it's alright."

Squeezing in close next to Angel, Mohamad put a finger gently to Sam's forehead, then he began to sign to him.

"We're both here, Angel and me, Sam. C'mon, let Doc help you."

Slowly unclenching his fists, Sam touched Mohamad's face, then Angel's. She winced as his fingertips grazed the edge of one tiny bruise on her cheek. Sam winced when Angel did, and he drew back. He pointed to Angel, motioned to Doc, then signed something firmly to Mohamad.

"Damn Sam," Mohamad sighed. "He says not until you take care of Angel," Mohamad translated.

"Yeah, I kinda figured," Angel muttered. "Jesus Christ, Samuel, I'm okay. I wasn't attacked like you were, I was just restrained," Angel protested. But as she looked deep into Sam's eyes, and saw that unyielding stubborn expression, she gave in.

"Fine! Guess I'm first, Doc," Angel scowled. "Get it over with then please take care of Sam, okay."

"All of the faith you people have in mee is so damn touching," Doc grumbled under her breath as she bent over Angel. The exam did not take very long.

"Well, your heart rate is up, you're blood pressure is up, but given everything that's been happening, that's no surprise. You want a bandaid for that?" Doc asked, gently touching the small bruise high on the right side of Angel's face.

"Don't be ridiculous, Doc," Angel scoffed.

"Well, then, we're done here. If you and Mohamad can help me with my more difficult patient-"

And they all descended on an unhappy Sam.

* * *

"So, you two wanna tell me what the hell went on here?" Axel asked Angel and Sam.

"Axel! Really!"Angel, Vanessa, Nicole, Doc, and Mohamad all cried in unison.

Axel cleared his throat. He held up his hands placatingly to the crowd, then looked apologetically at Sam and Angel.

Sam only gave a shy grin, then shrugged.

"Uh, I meant the attack, folks," Axel explained. "I don't really need to know what happened, uh, before that, you know?"

So, Angel told the short story.

"What the hell were you doing here alone with him in the first place?" John demanded of Angel. He looked disgusted. "Learning sign language?"

Everyone gave a general rumble of disgust.

Sam glared at john. He started to rise, but Angel and Mohamad quickly pulled him back down. Angel patted his arm while Mohamad signed soothingly to him.

"John, you're a big boy, can't you figure it out," Vanessa put in.

"I was just asking why—"

"Oh, shut up, John," almost everyone said.

John subsided, scowling.

"Look, we all know what we saw," Doc interjected. "Two, somethings, attacked them. Well, it attacked Sam. It only held on to Angel."

"But why did it attack Sam," Mohamad asked.

"It wanted to get me away from him," Angel said softly. "I don't know why, but I'm sure that's why it started."

"Yeah, that's what it looked like to me," Nicole spoke up for the first time.

"Maybe it's her dead son watching out for her," John said. "Maybe he doesn't want sam there as a new Daddy."

"John, leave them alone! And shut your fuckin' mouth about dead kids!" Flesh shouted, getting right in John's face.

"What the hell is your problem?" John shot back. "What's the matter, I wasn't mentioning your dead kids! Just hers—"

With a growl, Flesh launched himself at John, going for his throat.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Cut out the shit!" Axel forced himself in between John and Flesh. "John, you're exceeding even your own levels of being a shithead. Get out of here!"

"He came at me," John complained. "And you're throwing me out! But you always take up for the freaks, don't you Axel."

"Son of a bitch," Mohamad murmured.

Gently shaking off Angel and Mohamad's restraining hands, Sam got slowly to his feet and moved toward John, his hands outstretched and his face grim.

"Okay, Jesus, I'm going," John muttered, backing quickly away from the tall deaf man. He obviously did not want Sam to slam him against any more tables. "I'm going, understand. I … am … going now!" John mouthed exaggeratedly at Sam, then backed out of the room.

Sam made a half-hearted lunge after John, but Axel was beside him, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

"He's not worth it, buddy," Axel told am quietly. "He's just missing his own wife, and he's jealous of what you've got, and … Hell, I don't know. He's just a shithead. It's just not worth it."

Sam sighed, gave axel a small salute, and returned to tower guardedly over Angel and Mohamad.

"That guy is some piece of work," Nicole grumbled. She seemed more embarrassed by John's actions than anyone. "I'm sorry about him, Flesh, sam, Angel. He was outta line bringing up kids. He never acted like this when Wendy was alive."

"You should stop apologizing for him, Nicole," Vanessa said cooly.

"I'm not apologizing for him, I Just … Oh, forget it!"

"Anyone think that maybe the ghost thing is what killed Cindy," Doc suggested. "Maybe it wasn't one of us after all."

They all gaped at her.

"Yeah, I know how crazy it sounds. But look what it did to Sam."

"Would the ghost thing take a finger?" Vanessa asked.

"Or hang Cindy from the escalator?" Flesh remarked with a shudder.

"How the hell would I know. I'm not a medium," Doc exclaimed. "My short career as a vampire didn't teach me anything about ghosts."

"My votes still on John," Flesh said.

Angel gave Flesh and Sam an apologetic look.

"Not that I'm taking up for that asshole guys but it wasn't John who attacked sam and me," Angel reminded everyone. "We both tried to fight off our … our ghosts. And there was nothing there for us to hit or injure."

"Yeah, they were both two or three inches off the floor when we came in," Vanessa added.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Axel suddenly turned and slammed one fist into his other hand.

"Dammit, how am I supposed to protect and defend against ghosts," he cried.

No one had an answer for him.

"Okay, people here's the new rule. No one goes anywhere alone, not anywhere, not even for a second. I know being in pairs didn't save Sam and Angel, but the other person can, shit, scream for help if nothing else. You all understand? Anyone got a better idea? NO? Fine then. End—"

"… of discussion!" everyone chorused, even Sam, who hardly ever spoke out loud at all, except to Angel.

Axel stared at them all for a minute, then he began to laugh.

"Heard that too much, huh," he said, and they all nodded.

"Well, just don't forget it," Axel ordered as everyone began to file out.

* * *

Axel caught up with Sam, Mohamad and Angel just outside the room. He put one hand on Sam's shoulder to get his attention.

"Don't worry," the Marine said aside to a concerned looking Mohamad and Angel. "I just need him for a second. You guys just wait here, okay."

Sam gave the two a little smile and wave as he stepped back in to the dismantled room with Axel.

Axel turned to face him.

"Look, I know I told you guys to stay in pairs, at least," he began slowly. "But you should probably try and stay clear of John, alright?"

"Not a problem," Sam mouthed, and Axel grinned.

"Yeah, didn't think it would be. I'm sorry for how he's treating you, Sam."

Sam simply spread his hands in a _shit happens_ kind of gesture, but that did not satisfy Axel.

"No! It doesn't happen, not on my watch. Look, I'll make a deal with you. The next time he mouths off to you or the kid or Angel or even Flesh, next time he makes fun of your deafness or brings up anyone's dead kids, you handle it however you want. I won't stop you."

Sam grinned.

"Yeah, thought you'd go for that."

Sam started to turn away, but Axel touched his shoulder again.

"Uh, one more thing. I'm also not gonna tell you not to, uh, not to steal away with your lovely lady whenever you can, lucky bastard. But I will ask that you let at least someone know where you plan to be? Tell the kid or tell Flesh, if you don't want to tell any of us, okay? Just so one other person knows."

Sam smiled, and gave Axel a thumbs up sign.

"You know where all my boobytraps are?" Axel asked.

Sam nodded.

"Yeah, figured Mohamad would have told you since he's already stolen the lock codes out of my notebook at least once that I know of."

Sam shrugged. He mouthed, "More?" to Axel, who shook his head.

"If I keep you any longer, your lovely lady and the kid will be coming after me with weapons drawn. Just take it easy today, Sam, and do what Doc tells you, okay?"

"Maybe," sam mouthed, then turned and walked past Axel to rejoin Angel and Mohamad.

Axel watched him go, with a silent thanks to whatever guardian Angel or devil might be looking out for all of them. It would be a real blow to the group if they'd lost either Sam or Angel today, and Axel knew it. But it nagged in the back of his mind. What was it, and why did it focus on Sam more than Angel?


End file.
